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The Best Pumpkin Dish You’ll Make This Fall

By on November 4, 2016 in Guilt-Free Treats

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Excited doesn’t really cover how I feel about this recipe. I made it on a Sunday and literally dreamed about it the night before. Yes, I am that big of a loser and yes, it did live up to my dream.

I used to make a pumpkin dump cake that made my heart happy. It was creamy and warm on the bottom with a crunchy, sweet top. I LOVED it! The problem was, it was loaded with both white and brown sugar and was topped with a cake mix…. which you had to add even more sugar to. I thought about cheating and just making the darn thing (Yes, it would have been worth it), but before I sold my soul I decided to try to make a healthier version.

I’m SO glad I did. The pumpkin layer is warm, creamy, sweet and bursting with fall flavors. The topping contrasts nicely with the creamy base and the flavors work perfectly together. This is a perfect dessert for a cold night. Though since this dessert is so good I almost cried, I’ll probably make it for my birthday… in April.

So if you believe all men (and women) are entitled to the pursuit of happiness, make this… now. No really. Go do it.

A few tips first (sorry for the false alarm. Hopefully you aren’t running to grab your slow cooker).

Make sure you grease your slow cooker. If you don’t, instead of talking about how much you love me, you’ll be cursing me to the depths of Hades. Grease that sucker!

Yes, this has a lot of ingredients, but it truly is a dump cake. Two bowls and a slow cooker. That’s it. You don’t even have to beat the pumpkin layer in stages. I really did just throw everything in a bowl and beat it.

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Make sure you distribute the topping evenly when you sprinkle it over the pumpkin. This is basically going to cook up like a cake layer, so you want it as even as you can get it. Though since it is a dump cake, you really can’t ruin it. This just makes it better.

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The same goes for the butter. This provides a lot of the liquid for the cake layer, so you’ll want it even. But again, you can’t ruin this. The moisture from the pumpkin and the steaming affect of the slow cooker will get any spots you miss.

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As far as the pecans go, they are totally optional. If you hate pecans or they kill you if you eat them, you should leave them out. I love the flavor of pecans with pumpkin and fall spices so I left them in. You can even substitute them with another nut if you like. Not peanuts though. I like peanuts as much as the next squirrel, but that just sounds wrong.

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Lastly, this is a dish that is amazing on its own, but is even better topped with something cold and creamy. While ice cream would be amazing, we decided to go with something a little healthier and use coconut cream. Don’t worry. If you can hold a hand mixer, you can make coconut cream. Click here for instructions from The Pioneer Woman. We sweeten ours with honey.

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Okay. Now you are armed with what you need so go and make it. Now. It’s not a false alarm this time…

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There is One Thing You Can Do Today to be Happier

By on November 1, 2016 in healthy tips

Today we were driving home from school. My 8-year-old son mentioned how excited he is for his field trip to the zoo on Friday. My 5-year-old daughter immediately shouted, “That’s not fair! Why does he get to go to the zoo?!” Never mind the fact that she recently had a field trip. The idea that he […]

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One Pan Autumn Chicken and Veggie Dinner

By on October 28, 2016 in Main Dishes

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I recently got a new set of knives. I didn’t exactly need them, but they were at Costco and they came in different colors. They were so pretty I couldn’t resist. I’m kind of like a fish drawn to shiny things. I brought my lovely knives home and unpacked them (which was quite an accomplishment since the package was pretty much welded together) and selected which knife to use based on color. The massacre began when I was slicing an onion. My new, very sharp knife slipped and I cut my pointer and middle finger. Luckily we have a rather extensive collection of Star Wars band-aids, so I wrapped up my hands and went back to making dinner. The next cut was to my knuckle. I’m still not totally sure how that one happened, but there it was. Another R2D2 bandaid and I was set to go.

A few days later I was making something with coconut milk and cut my other knuckle on the can. It’s been so bad lately that my 8-year-old who is as oblivious to what’s going on around him as any 8-year-old said, “Mom. Why do you keep cutting your hands? Maybe you shouldn’t use knives anymore.” Seriously! Am I the only one who is a total spaz in the kitchen? Am I the only one who goes through more band-aids than their children?

To make my story relevant, I have a recipe for you that requires a lot of chopping. One thing it doesn’t require though is a lot of is dishes. I wanted a complete meat and veggie meal that could be made with one pan. Done!

Not only does this dish come together in one pan, but it’s a savory dish that has all the delicious flavors of fall.

To make things easier, chop all your veggies and add them to a large plastic bag with the oil, salt and pepper. Then shake it up to coat the veggies.

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Here’s where the fall flavors come in. We get to make a fabulous spice blend that has slightly sweet flavors like cinnamon and orange, and warm flavors like paprika and cumin.

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Using the same bag you tossed the veggies in, toss some chicken thighs with the seasoning mix. Remember that commercial back in the 80’s/90’s with the little girl who helped make the chicken? “It’s shake and bake and I helped.” Funny. I don’t remember freshman science, but I remember that commercial. That’s basically what we’re going to do here.

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So if the veggies and chicken covered in delicious flavors isn’t enough, we up the flavor with the ingredient that improves anything: Bacon! I ended up using 8 slices of bacon to wrap all 6 thighs but use however many you need/want based on the size of thighs you have.

The chicken goes on the same pan as the veggies and it all goes in the oven together.

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I like to eat mine over spinach, but my husband thinks that’s a terrible idea. You choose.

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However you eat it, be careful cutting those veggies.

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10 Easy Ways to be Healthy

By on October 18, 2016 in healthy tips

Y’all know how I feel about nutrition and exercise, so making those kinds of life changes is always great, but it’s important to always be working toward the whole package. So… I promise these 10 healthy tips have nothing to do with working out and lowering your sugar intake.

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10 Ways to Eat Healthy on a Budget

By on October 14, 2016 in healthy tips

Eating healthy is so expensive! It’s much cheaper to buy a Hungry Man dinner than to buy a pound of organic apples. It’s lame, that’s what it is. L-A-M-E! Because I still want to have enough money to send my kids to college on day, we’ve had to figure out ways to eat this way […]

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Sugar Detox Sloppy Joes

By on October 7, 2016 in Main Dishes

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1969. It was a big year the world. Richard Nixon became president, man walked on the moon and Hunts came out with a can of deliciousness called Manwich. Yes, Manwich. Just add ground meat and you have yourself a delicious sloppy joe. I grew up with this stuff. We kept it on hand a long with emergency water and matches in case of power failure. So when I got married and started my own family, I knew I had to stock up on the Manwich.

Sadly, life changes. Richard Nixon resigned after questionable activity, NASA had budget cuts and had to put an end to the Apollo missions, and I read the label on the back of a can of Manwich. The second ingredient listed is high fructose corn syrup, followed by regular corn syrup. A few ingredients later we have sugar and down the list we have ingredients with a breakdown that include high fructose corn syrup, corn syrup and sugar. That’s one giant crash for mankind, Manwich.

Yet if we learned anything from Adam Sandler and Chris Farley, it’s that sloppy joes are awesome. So something had to be done.

What I came up with was a delicious, healthy, saucy mixture to go with my ground beef for a sloppy joe that puts Manwich to shame. Eat your heart out, Manwich! But first, drizzle a little high fructose corn syrup over it.

The key is to let the ingredients simmer together.

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After you brown your beef and onion, add the liquids and spices and let the whole mixture simmer together for 20 minutes. One of the ingredients in this recipe is that amazing bone broth I told you to make a few weeks ago. Now it’s even healthier than before.

We sometimes have this on whole wheat buns, but my favorite way is to scoop some into a lettuce cup. The crunch pairs nicely with the meat.

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My husband and kids eat this with shredded cheese on the top, but dairy makes my hand beak out in eczema like I have a zombie hand, so I pass on the cheese.

Now if I could just find another way to put man on the moon…

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Halloween Ghost Lantern

By on October 4, 2016 in Holidays

A few years ago (like 7 to be exact) my son and I made a ghost lantern for a Halloween decoration. This is still our family’s favorite Halloween decoration. My kids go nuts every year waiting to unpack it from our box of Halloween decorations.

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